The Passage Island Light Station is a lighthouse located NE of Isle Royale, in NW
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
on
Passage Island. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2006.
Description
The light tower is high, constructed of field stone, and is square on the first level, transitioning to octagonal above.
[Passage Island Light Station](_blank)
from "Seeing the Light," retrieved 9/18/09 It is topped with a ten-sided cast iron lantern, accessible via a spiral staircase within the tower.
The tower is integral with the keeper's house, which is a two-story field stone house measuring .
History
The need for a lighthouse between Passage Island and Isle Royale was recognized as early as the 1860s, as lake traffic increased dramatically due to the upsurge in mining in the
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...
.
However, it took until 1875 before Congress authorized funds for the construction of a lighthouse.
However, because of Congress's desire to bring political pressure to bear on the Canadian government to force them to build a lighthouse in
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
, the appropriated $18,000 for Pasage Light was not released until 1880.
Construction began in 1881, and the light was completed the following year.
A fog signal was added in 1884, and in 1894 a new flashing white lens manufactured by Barbier, Benard & Turenne of Paris was installed.
In 1978, the station was automated, and in 1989 a acrylic lens was installed, replacing the Fresnel.
Further reading
Passage Island Light Station Survey number HABS MI-385, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Lighthouse Survey number HABS MI-385-A, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Fog Signal Building Survey number HABS MI-385-B, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Oil Storage Building Survey number HABS MI-385-C, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Privy Building Survey number HABS MI-385-D, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Tramway Equipment Building Survey number HABS MI-385-E, Historic American Buildings Survey
Passage Island Light Station, Pump House Survey number HABS MI-385-F, Historic American Buildings Survey
References
External links
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Lighthouses completed in 1882
Houses completed in 1882
Lighthouses in Keweenaw County, Michigan
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Gothic Revival architecture in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Isle Royale National Park
1882 establishments in Michigan